Rodney Scaman of Goodness Greeness spoke to the press on Sunday at a South Side rally marking the beginning of National Food Desert Awareness Month. A Food Desert is a neighborhood with no or distant grocery stores, but often plenty of fast food restaurants and liquor stores. Residents of Food Deserts suffer disproportionately from diet-related illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. The rally, in the Food Desert neighborhood of Roseland, was hosted by the National Center for Public Research (NCPR), an association of health-focused African-American churches called Nehemiah Restoration Coalition, the Healthcare Consortium of Illinois and Goodness Greeness. Goodness Greeness distributed more than a thousand organic “Pink Pearl” apples at the event—demonstrating the demand for quality produce in every neighborhood. According to Mari Gallagher, NCPR President, "Goodness Greeness has shown both compassion and good market instincts when it comes to the food desert. They know that people everywhere want to buy fresh and healthy foods that will help them live longer, happier, and healthier lives."
Learn more about Food Deserts by visiting www.marigallagher.com/projects while the new website www.NCforPR.org is under construction. Retailers interested in being part of the solution for Chicago’s half a million Food Desert residents should contact us for information about the upcoming 2008 Chicago Grocer Expo co-convened by NCPR and the city of Chicago.